I’m sure we’re all pretty smart about these things, but I’ll go ahead and put it out there anyway……
With the crazy demand for guns right now, there are scammers out there taking advantage of it. There was a NIB PTR-91 GI model on ArmsList for $700 this morning. Sure, I’ll do that. Email the guy. Oooops! Turns out that even though his ad says he’s in Montana, and that he won’t ship the gun, he’s actually in OR and will be happy to ship me the gun. All I have to do is PayPal him the money.
:::facepalm:::
So, I copied the image location of the image in his Armslist ad, threw the address into Google image search, and it turned up a hit…for a Gunbroker auction that already had 14 bids on it and closed in a few hours.
I strung this goober along for a little bit and then finally told him I’d pay him an extra $200 for shipping because I was in a hurry. He gave me his (supposed) PayPal address. I emailed PayPal with a copy of the emails and, since using PayPal for firearms transactions is a no-no, maybe they’ll freeze his account. ALthough it’s probably someone elses hacked account.
Anyway, be careful out there guys. Do just a modicum of due diligence or you can get burned in this crazy market.
Have encountered similar fraudulent ads on Armslist. Sad, as it’s one of the few places I know of to shop and buy from private citizens.
In this environment it pays to drive your happy was to the gun store and do the transaction in person.
The internet coupled with all the unscrupulous idiots out there I never send money to anyone via the web. I do everything by snail mail and deal only with people I know and trust.
Since i only do FTF on firearms, I usually just ask to meet the internet guy in front of my/his local PD. Surprising how many forget how to email when i suggest that.
CDR, I think you missed your ‘calling’…:-)….unless you’re already an insurance fraud investigator.
What I am is someone who is extremely(!) territorial and does not take kindly to people screwing me over. I’m perfectly happy to sit back and wait a week, a month, five years….before coming in out of the blue to get even.
One should always do their due diligence when following up on an ad from an unknown source. Because If it’s too good to be true, it probably isn’t.
BTW, the follow-up with PayPall was a nice touch. I’m hoping you’re right and PayPal freezes this guy’s account.
Having bought several items from Armslist I’ve found the best way to weed out the lowlifes is get a phone number and talk to them person to person. Your radar should go off if they sound less than honorable.
Just bit on a Python listed for $850, emailed the seller and got a message back from the site saying the ad was marked as a scam..
One other trick I’ve heard down here is two guys show up, passenger shoves the cash at the seller, takes the gun and they speed off. Money is counterfeit.
The other scam is someone asking ‘do you still have it?’. When you respond they some how use your email account to send out spam.
[ When you respond they some how use your email account to send out spam. ]
@Jimbo I wouldn’t dream of giving out my regular email to anyone in a situation like this? mail.com supplies you as many free email addresses as you want, throw away ones basically.
Good tip, thanks.
With the market flowing with folk looking to cash in and those in need…
Scams are inevitable.
Sadly.